Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-01-11
Common Carriers.

10 me EuttOT OJ INC DtSputCH'
Themajority OF farmers are about reach
ing the conclusion that they are friendless
in the halls Of legislation; they are losing
confidence In the courts, and Their respect
for a Government that does not render
them reasonable protection Is waning.
Congress has once recognized their exist
ence in the establishment Of a iourth-rlte
Agricultural Bureau in the Department OF
tie Interior, speaking OF which the face
tious 5. ;. Cox let slip the sentiment OF
about nine tenths OF hiS colleagues ia COM
pairing 1t to a cookie. bur under a sleeps
tail-rather hard TO get rid Off, You have
kindly invited usto speak out through the
columns OF your cstimable paper, aud we
will speak, though none may lerd an at.
tentiye ear.
There is nothing OF which the masses OF
the people are more ignorant and nothing
that more concerns them than proper I'M
Outstanding Of their relations to common
carriers and the plain duties Of the latter to
them. Common carrier are " those who
undertake for hire to transport from one
place to another the goods or persons OF
such as choose TO employ them" They
are held liable for all loss or damage which
may occur during transportation, except
that OccIsioned by the act OF God OF the
public enemy at Is carriers duty to
receive for transportation all goods offered
OF the kind which it is his usual
custom TO carry" GALL PERSONS WhO En-.
GAGE HIS SERVICES MUST ZEE Gil ARGED FOR THE
SANE SERVICE EQUABY." Lord Mansfield,
a chief Justice Of England, conspicuous
for his equity aud integrity, decided that
"carriers are not at liberty by law to charge
what they please. but unreasonable sun only,
and not 10 extOrt what they will The
Supreme Court OF the United States has de-
clarod that when one dey0tes his pro-
perty TO 4 use in which the public has an
interest he in effect grants TO the public an
interest in that use, and must submit to be
controlled by the public for the common
GOOD TO the extent Of the interest he has
created"
Railroads and steamboats, are the princi-
pal common carriers OF our internal COM
mercc, and as such are liable 10 the restric-
lions imposed by the above well'estaoished
principles OF law. The Injunction re-
quiring them TO deal "equably with all per-
sons" necessarily implies that they should
so deal with all places.
Do the railroads deal equally with all per-
sons and places Charles Francis Adams,
himself a raIlrOad.man, has said OF railro nd
officials that "by bad faith aud cunning
they have become hardly better than a race
OF horse-j jockeys on large scale. There
are notable individual exceptions to this
statement, but taken as whole the tone
among them Is Indsputably low. Honor
for IFS own sake and good faith apart from
self.interest are, in business point OF
view, symptoms OF youth or defec-
tive education" Mr.. J. j. White, OF New
York, stated before n congressional
committee that DETERMINATIONS were
gong on in New York city every day. a
merchant can do business in no other way.
One merchant does not know how much
more rebate one gets than another" lie
mentioned an instance In which rebate OF
$4,000 less than the regular charges had
been given him on a single cargo. The
Chesapeake and Ohio railroad charges 4
dealer in -four the same amount for send
ing q barrel from Memphis, Tenn, Uid
Louisville, Lexington, Huntington, and
stanton TO Richmond, that 1t does dell-
or in Staunton from that place to Rich
mond. | am charged p cents per hun
bred 10 send my tobacco 40 miles TO Lynch
burg. AtObaccOnist In LYnch0urg can
send the same one hundred pounds from
Lynchburg ma Norfolk or Baltimore TO
LIyerpoOl. England, for 40 cents. Does
the common carrier deal "equably" with
All parties in such cases. Is il not a we'll
known fact that the railroads run IN the
interest OF their terminal cities, and
drain almost every vestige OF pros
perily from intermediate places to build up
those favored places? One OF the most
plausible arguments used by railroad At
torneys is one you recently quoted in an
Overwhelmingly, "that not 10 build up
the country along its lines would be 'kill.
ing Che goose that lays the golden egg.''
IN the goose has not been ~ GFticttlO morris
for the past five years, would like Ia
know what they call It, The state OF things
which they seem to be exerting oil OF theiI
cunning TO bring about Is social order In
which the mechanic aud farmer shall be
content With bare subsistence, aud thai
.lI the profits OF their labor shall go Il
them aud their friends with which u
"level mountains and construct seas" A
moneyed syndicate IN Baltimore has al
ready lent out, | am told, f60,000,000 or
| farms In Loudoun and Fauquier counties
and elsewhere, at an interest that will soOr
transfer the ownership OF the farm from
| the original possessor. In all candor, where
1 did that immense amount OF surplus capt
| tai come from? The little rlyulets which
| that great tax.gathertr the Baltimore aut
| Ohio railroad has collected along it, im
| mense stretch OF road is swollen Into a rive
| OF gold upon reaching the terminal city.
4 IA draining the leisure, the luxury, anu thu
/ refinement out OF all that great extent o
| territory and concentrating all OF II In on
nlaea Let any fair-minded man ride ON thl